SEOUL- His Highness the Kuwaiti Amir's Representative, Minister of Information and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah inaugurated here on Monday the "Art in Islamic Civilization" exhibition at the National Museum of Korea.

The exhibition, organized by Kuwait's Dar Al-Athar Al-Islammiyah (DAI), and lasts till October 20, displays a huge number of Islamic artifacts, monuments, and manuscripts including the Sabah Collection of DAI, aiming to spread awareness on Islamic heritage and artistic values.

Sheikh Salman

In his opening speech, Sheikh Salman conveyed HH the Amir's success wishes for attending officials and audience, adding that Kuwaiti-Korean ties date back to around 35 years and had always been successful on various arenas.

He also pointed out that Kuwait will never forget South Korea's positive stance and help during the Iraqi invasion to the country in 1990 as Kuwait currently hosts many Koreans who work in all economic sectors and projects, specifically infrastructure projects.

In addition, HH the Amir's Representative added that trade volume between Kuwait and South Korea amounted to USD 17 billion, noting that both countries are partners in bilateral development, and aspire to continue this positive cooperation in upcoming years.

Sheikha Hussah

For her part, Sheikha Hussah Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Director General of DAI, expressed hope that "Art in Islamic Civilization" exhibition would contribute to the creation of some type of cultural communication with the Korean people in order to shed light on Islamic civilization.

She added that the cultural communication between countries of East and West Asia dates back to long centuries, a fact stressed by a large number of historians and Islamic scholars.

Various cultural activities, hosted by both countries, helped in forming a joint culture and understanding between Kuwait and South Korea, Sheikha Hussah pointed out, expressing hope that the exhibition would contribute to the exploration of Islamic civilization significantly to the Korean audience.

Sheikha Hussah said the Seoul exhibition is the third in row after similar events were organized in the Italian city of Milan and Austrian Capital Vienna recently.

The Islamic art exhibition embraces 367 historical and geographical artifacts out of 30,000 pieces owned by the DAI.